A blog about running
that has metamorphosed
into one about life in general.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Qualifying for Medi-Cal Due to Obamacare

In other news, since I officially don't have any more unemployment
benefits and don't know where and when my next income is going to come from,
since you remember I've only been hired as a part time employee with no
guaranteed working hours, I've re-qualified for Medi-Cal (Medicaid) insurance.
(Did that sentence run on?) It was supposed to be effective June 1st, 2014 but
due to government backlogs, I didn’t get it till mid July. In the meantime, I
stopped paying Healthnet the monthly $135 I’ve been sending them since January.
I thought that I still have to continue
paying Keenan Healthcare $45 a month for dental insurance thru COBRA from my
previous employer but it turns out Denti-Cal was reinstated by California
effective May 2014.

Let me backtrack a little bit. In May, I had to call Covered
California (the California Healthcare Exchange) to make the changes and was glad the wait time on hold wasn't as
long as it was late last year. Charlie checked my eligibility and in a few
minutes was transferred to the L.A. County Medi-Cal representative Lily who had
me scan my last EDD unemployment check notice and upload it to the Covered
California website. There are still some bugs in the system, but not as bad as
it was before because the representatives have found workarounds to bypass the
bugs. It also seems like the reps have more latitude to approve the changes
based on the proof you upload. I thought that was it and that free Medi-Cal
insurance would kick in on June 1st. I made a doctor’s appointment
and the medical assistant confirmed my eligibility. However on May 27th,
I got another call saying my Medi-Cal was deactivated. I called the L.A. County
Medi-Cal office and was told that I had to wait for it to be reactivated again
but without an approximate time. A few days later I got a letter in the mail
informing me that a caseworker has been assigned to me at the local Department
of Public Social Services (DPSS) office. I was also expecting another packet in
the mail to pick a managed care plan.

So I waited, and waited, then waited some more, and I called the DPSS
every other week. Meanwhile I was getting tons of mail from Covered California
which said I qualified for this and that federal subsidy which was basically
what I was paying Healthnet for 5 months. It seemed that Covered California’s
computer system finally caught up with the applications and the eligibility
information I uploaded way back in October 2013.

On the second week of July, I called the DPSS office again and my
caseworker said that my Medi-Cal would be reactivated the next day, but to wait
another day for me to make a doctor’s appointment. When the time came, I called
the doctor’s office and they verified that my insurance coverage was again
active. Hence, I made an appointment for the following week.

So I finally made use of the free medical insurance last week and went to see a doctor for a checkup almost
a year since my last doctor's visit. Not just any doctor mind you, but one who
accepted Medi-Cal and someone I used to work with as a mental health worker 20
years ago before he went to medical school and haven’t seen since. I went to
the clinic 10 minutes early, filled out the necessary paperwork regarding my
medical history, then waited in the examination room. When the doctor finally
entered, he greeted me, then had to do a double take. He said "hey, I know
you!". I was going to ask if he remembered me but it was too late for
that. He asked me if I was in touch with any of our former co-workers, which I
was not. So he mentioned a couple of nurses whom we used to work with and that
they were his patients too. Hopefully, there was no HIPAA violation there since
we were all friends way back when. So I had my checkup done, blood drawn for
lab tests right there in the office, had my maintenance medications refilled,
and experienced the advantages and joys of free Medi-Cal insurance: no doctor’s
visits co-pay, no lab co-pay, and no pharmacy co-pay. All thanks to my much
much lower income and Obamacare. I already addressed this in my blogpost way
before Obamacare kicked in : http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2013/04/an-obamacare-loophole-for-early-retirees.html

Seeking a Financial Sweet Spot

Now I have this dilemma of finding a
full time job with benefits or working part time (and semi-retired) to keep my income
within the limits required to stay eligible for free Medi-Cal. I'm torn between staying semi-retired and earning less (with free coverage
for medical,dental, vision, and most prescription meds) or getting full time
employment and earning more while paying for regular medical insurance with all
the co-pays. I was offered a full time job which starts in mid-August which more
than doubles what I earn now, but in
exchange, I have to work longer hours. The decision has to be made soon on
whether to stay poor and get free insurance as long as Obamacare is in effect,
or earn more money and start paying for employer sponsored insurance with all
its co-pays. And perhaps, not too far down the line, since my mortgage is
already paid off, finally take vacations I never took in the past 34 years of
working so much.

A final note on free Medi-Cal: when
you choose a managed care plan, they even supply a postage paid envelope. That's
your tax dollars at work folks. No wonder a lot of people pretend to be
permanently disabled like some of the psych patients I've worked with.

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About Me

I started writing this blog to chronicle my devastating running injury in October of 2008. It has since turned into something I didn't expect: stories and anecdotes about everyday life. On 7/26/11, I retitled this blog from noeldlp.blogspot.com to aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com. I remain permanently injured with PTTD on both ankles but I keep on trying to run nonetheless. I'm not sure if it's passion or insanity. You be the judge.